One kilometer into the earth, entirely on its own
A naturally formed lava tube is the hardest inspection environment we know: total darkness, no GPS, no radio, jagged unmapped rock in every direction. A drone running Sarthi's mission stack explored and mapped more than a kilometer of one, fully autonomously.
What happened
The drone entered the tube with no prior map and no connection to the outside. It built its understanding of the passage as it flew, chose where to go next on its own, covered more than 1,000 meters of winding volcanic cave, and returned with a complete 3D map.
No pilot touched a stick and no signal reached the vehicle. The mission was published as peer-reviewed field research and remains the only fully autonomous aerial exploration of a natural lava tube at this scale.
What it means for a mine
Every assumption a connected platform depends on was absent, and the mission completed. An unconnected drift is the same problem with a flatter floor.
The same mission layer now runs Sarthi's ground robots on routine rounds. A layer that explored a kilometer of unknown cave can repeat Tuesday's patrol on level 2.
The research behind this mission is published and peer-reviewed. Ask and we will send it.
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